About William Low
If you were to observe William Low as he walks down a crowded Manhattan street, you would never suspect him of being a native New Yorker. In fact, he was born in the Bronx, in the back seat of a taxicab, but you would guess that he is a tourist. His camera is ready, his head is thrown back, his mouth is open and his eyes are scanning the tall buildings. He is observing the shimmering sunlight on a building. He takes a photograph, makes a mental note of the color of the light and then, most importantly, he remembers the feeling that he got when he saw that light. With that information stored in his mind, he will use it when the time is right–in a painting for a book cover, public works project or personal painting.
William’s interest in architecture and the classic use of light gives his art a singular vision-a look all its own. The more he sees, the wider his repertoire of subject matter. When it becomes impractical to “see it all,” he relies on photographs. When Eddie Bauer asked William to create a painting of a single figure kayaking along a sunlit Washington state coastline, William requested as much photo reference as possible. William had never seen that particular section of Washington’s coastline. But he does know light and its effects. With photos in hand he completed a painting that has touched thousands of Eddie Bauer customers. Many of them have written to say that the scene moved them to tears.
“I have been there before,” wrote one reader,” and I can tell by your painting that you have experienced the same feelings I have felt kayaking along the beautiful seashore as the sun went down.”
His approach to picture making developed when he was an art student. As a student in the NYC High School of Art and Design, he studied classical portraiture using oils under the guidance of Max Ginsburg and Irwin Greenberg. At the Parson’s School of Design, where he earned his BFA, David Passalacqua taught him how to do everything else: draw, compose; think artistically and abstractly. He studied with Murry Tinkleman at Syracuse University's MA program.
These disparate skills come together in his creative process. An eye for architecture is used to logically construct his forms, his years at Parsons help him to compose shapes into modern compositions, and his classical training helps to lay down the colors a la prima, with the pigments mixed on the palette and applied thickly, without initially using mediums or turpentine.
William has has won numerous awards including five Silver medals from the Society of Illustrators (latest one in 2019), and has illustrated several children’s books, including Lily, by Abigail Thomas (a Parent’s Choice Honor Award winner in 1994), Old Penn Station which he authored and The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions by Russell Freedman. His work has been featured in Wacom Inc., promotional videos, Print Magazine, the Adobe Photoshop Wow! Book, by Linnea Dayton and Paul Davis, The Illustrator in America 1860-2000 by Walt Reed. His public works projects are featured in New York’s Underground Art Museum: MTA Arts and Design by Sandra Bloodworth as well as created 3 murals for MTA Arts in the Bronx and Deer Park LIRR station Long Island. His art appears in books like The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions written by Russell Freedman, Feathered Dinosaurs by Brenda Z. Guiberson, Henry and the Kite Dragon by Bruce Edward Hall and Me and Momma and Big John by Mara Rockliff. Authored by William Low are Chinatown 1997, Old Penn Station 2007, Machines Go to Work 2009, Daytime Nighttime 2015, all with Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.
He is currently the principal in Cobalt Studios, a full service studio that produces fine art paintings, illustrations for children’s books and ad agencies and fine art quality prints. The studio’s many clients include: Rosewood Hong Kong, Henry Holt & Company, LL Bean Inc., MTA Arts & Design. Many of his paintings are on permanent view at various Houston’s Restaurants around the country and paintings have exhibited at the Heckscher Museum of Art, The American Museum of Illustration and the Museum of the City of New York and the Katonah Museum of Art. William Low has designed 6 postage stamps for the United States Postal Service. He also teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Even with decades of painting under his belt, William Low continues to grow artistically. Currently, he has been painting on canvas/linen with oils for private commissions and personal work. His computer paintings reveal a seamless transition from traditional to digital media. He was not surprised that his digital work met with resistance at first, given the computer’s reputation for producing cold, sterile images. Utilizing his skills as a painter, William has helped to change this perception. His digital images are remarkable for their emotional depth, color, texture and even their painterly brush strokes. In fact, many people are surprised to learn, when they see his work on the printed page, that the images were not the product of traditional media. See some videos of William's Digital technique:
After all of these years William Low is still very much that same person – a young artist from the Bronx who observes and paints the world around him. He draws the viewer into his work, be it traditionally or digitally generated, engaging the viewer with beautiful light, color and composition.
William’s interest in architecture and the classic use of light gives his art a singular vision-a look all its own. The more he sees, the wider his repertoire of subject matter. When it becomes impractical to “see it all,” he relies on photographs. When Eddie Bauer asked William to create a painting of a single figure kayaking along a sunlit Washington state coastline, William requested as much photo reference as possible. William had never seen that particular section of Washington’s coastline. But he does know light and its effects. With photos in hand he completed a painting that has touched thousands of Eddie Bauer customers. Many of them have written to say that the scene moved them to tears.
“I have been there before,” wrote one reader,” and I can tell by your painting that you have experienced the same feelings I have felt kayaking along the beautiful seashore as the sun went down.”
His approach to picture making developed when he was an art student. As a student in the NYC High School of Art and Design, he studied classical portraiture using oils under the guidance of Max Ginsburg and Irwin Greenberg. At the Parson’s School of Design, where he earned his BFA, David Passalacqua taught him how to do everything else: draw, compose; think artistically and abstractly. He studied with Murry Tinkleman at Syracuse University's MA program.
These disparate skills come together in his creative process. An eye for architecture is used to logically construct his forms, his years at Parsons help him to compose shapes into modern compositions, and his classical training helps to lay down the colors a la prima, with the pigments mixed on the palette and applied thickly, without initially using mediums or turpentine.
William has has won numerous awards including five Silver medals from the Society of Illustrators (latest one in 2019), and has illustrated several children’s books, including Lily, by Abigail Thomas (a Parent’s Choice Honor Award winner in 1994), Old Penn Station which he authored and The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions by Russell Freedman. His work has been featured in Wacom Inc., promotional videos, Print Magazine, the Adobe Photoshop Wow! Book, by Linnea Dayton and Paul Davis, The Illustrator in America 1860-2000 by Walt Reed. His public works projects are featured in New York’s Underground Art Museum: MTA Arts and Design by Sandra Bloodworth as well as created 3 murals for MTA Arts in the Bronx and Deer Park LIRR station Long Island. His art appears in books like The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions written by Russell Freedman, Feathered Dinosaurs by Brenda Z. Guiberson, Henry and the Kite Dragon by Bruce Edward Hall and Me and Momma and Big John by Mara Rockliff. Authored by William Low are Chinatown 1997, Old Penn Station 2007, Machines Go to Work 2009, Daytime Nighttime 2015, all with Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.
He is currently the principal in Cobalt Studios, a full service studio that produces fine art paintings, illustrations for children’s books and ad agencies and fine art quality prints. The studio’s many clients include: Rosewood Hong Kong, Henry Holt & Company, LL Bean Inc., MTA Arts & Design. Many of his paintings are on permanent view at various Houston’s Restaurants around the country and paintings have exhibited at the Heckscher Museum of Art, The American Museum of Illustration and the Museum of the City of New York and the Katonah Museum of Art. William Low has designed 6 postage stamps for the United States Postal Service. He also teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Even with decades of painting under his belt, William Low continues to grow artistically. Currently, he has been painting on canvas/linen with oils for private commissions and personal work. His computer paintings reveal a seamless transition from traditional to digital media. He was not surprised that his digital work met with resistance at first, given the computer’s reputation for producing cold, sterile images. Utilizing his skills as a painter, William has helped to change this perception. His digital images are remarkable for their emotional depth, color, texture and even their painterly brush strokes. In fact, many people are surprised to learn, when they see his work on the printed page, that the images were not the product of traditional media. See some videos of William's Digital technique:
After all of these years William Low is still very much that same person – a young artist from the Bronx who observes and paints the world around him. He draws the viewer into his work, be it traditionally or digitally generated, engaging the viewer with beautiful light, color and composition.
Simplicity in everything
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HUGO San Francisco
123 Anywhere Street
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555.555.5555
contact@hugo.com
Monday 9am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 7pm
Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 7pm
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Sunday 10am - 5pm
123 Anywhere Street
Anywhere, AW
94107
555.555.5555
contact@hugo.com
Monday 9am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 7pm
Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 7pm
Saturday 9am - 7pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm